Each month I received a really unique and rare selection of high-quality beer, and with the option to skip shipments, I always received the beers I wanted to sample and skipped the ones I wasn’t interested in. Over the 6 or 7-years I was a member, I was lucky enough to not only sample some really good beer, but I was also able to get my hands on a near constant stream of beers that were only available via the club.
The Rare Beer Club features breweries like De Molen, Mikkeller, Lost Abbey, Jester King, Fantôme, The Bruery (and more) and each month you can receive your choice of one, two or three 750ml bottles of the two featured beers.
This month, Kris Calef from The Rare Beer Club was kind enough to share his two selections with me, so naturally I’m sharing them with you.
Up first is an exciting beer from Brouwerij Boon called Geuze Mariage Parfait 2014. The beer is a blend of a young and three year-old lambics. This Belgian-brewed beer is bottle conditioned so when you try this one, be sure to open the bottle carefully and pour slowly. When you do, you’ll be rewarded with a bright gold/orange colored beer and a frothy active white head. The aromas are complex with bright fruit (citrus and pear) as well as some pleasant graham cracker funk. The flavors have a really nice funky and tart apricot mix that leads the way followed by layers of grain, vanilla and even fresh berries. As the beer warms, I found apple and lots of fruity funk in the flavors and the finish is decidedly sour. I love a good Lambic or Geuze and this beer is both.
Overall I enjoyed the flavors of this beer so much, I had trouble agreeing to share the 750ml bottle (but of course at 8%-AbV, I did share).
Up next I started celebrating the holidays early with the penultimate beer in The Bruery’s 12-Days of Christmas Series---12 Drummers Drumming. I’ve been lucky enough to try the previous 11 beers in the series, including the rare Partridge In a Pear Tree, so I was excited to pop this one open and celebrate the culmination of 12-years of holiday beers. To put a punctuation mark on the series, The Bruery created a blend of a Belgian-style quadrupel ale and and Old Ale. If that’s not enough fun, this beer is aged in Bourbon barrels and packaged in 750ml bottles. 12 Drummers pours a rich and deep mahogany color with loads of Bourbon and dark fruit in the nose. As you would image, the combination of flavors are complex and rich. I found dark cherry and raisin up front with a really nice mix of Bourbon, oak and booze at the end. This beer has what I would call 12-years worth of layers of flavors and I’m definitely happy to say the final release in the series is worth the wait. Overall this is a really complex beer with a nice balance of oak, Bourbon, dark fruit and yes…at 12%-AbV there is definitely some booziness in there.
Overall I think The Bruery 12 Drummers Drumming has to be one of my favorite combinations in the series and I’m confident you’ll love it too.Be sure to check out the Beer Of The Month Club and the five club subscriptions they offer. They have options that include the U.S. Microbrewed Beer club and The Hop-Heads Beer Club…and of course The Rare Beer Club. With all of the great options and convenient home delivery, I know you’ll find the right club for you OR better yet, a great holiday gift for the beer-lover on your list. If you do decide to join, be sure to tell Kris that mybeerbuzz sent you and when you do try out the club selections, be sure to let us know what YOU think.
As a sneak peek, Kris tells me he has Pasteur Street’s Cyclo Imperial Chocolate Stout, a 13% RIS brewed in Vietnam and the club’s 25-year Anniversary exclusive from O’so Brewing Co., Silver Streak, which will be a double dry hopped tart wooded DIPA coming up in The Rare Beer Club.
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